This is hilarious, the illiterate developing their own cryptosystems and getting pwned.
Not being stupid doesn't mean one has to 'know everything'*, it's knowing what you can and what you can't do. And yes, its a requirement. Even for criminal endeavors. * ignorance is fine, as long as one is aware of it. On Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 2:32 PM, jim bell <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > http://news.yahoo.com/italy-cracks-mafia-sheep-code-arrest-godfathers-henchmen-111947663.html > > Italy cracks Mafia sheep code to arrest Godfather's henchmen > > By Ella Ide 1 hour ago > > Rome (AFP) - Italian police on Monday arrested 11 suspects linked to the > fugitive head of the Sicilian Mafia, including a former boss who ran a > secret message system for the mobster using a sheep-based code. > Matteo Messina Denaro, 53, who has been on the run since 1993, used a farm > in Mazara del Vallo to communicate with his henchmen via the aged-old > method of "pizzini", bits of paper containing messages often written in > cipher, police said. > Among those arrested was former boss Vito Gondola, 77, whose job it was to > call the clan members to alert them to each new message, which was placed > under a rock in a field at the farm and often destroyed on the spot after > reading. > "I've put the ricotta cheese aside for you, will you come by later?" he > would say on the telephone -- a phrase investigators said had nothing to do > with dairy products. > "The sheep need shearing... the shears need sharpening" and "the hay is > ready", were among other code phrases used to alert the gang to a new > message, written on tightly folded bits of paper wrapped in Sellotape and > then hidden in the dirt. > The police investigation, which followed the passing of messages between > 2011 and 2014, used hidden cameras and microphones around the farm near > Trapani in western Sicily to follow the movements of the clan -- and > discover Denaro's fading glory. > View gallery > > Gondola is caught in one conversation telling another mobster that Denaro > -- once a trigger man who reportedly boasted he could "fill a cemetery" > with his victims -- was losing control over the latest generation of > criminals, who "disappear without saying anything". > - 'State win, Mafia loses' - > Three of those arrested were over 70 years old. > The only known photos of Denaro date back to the early 1990s. He is > believed to be the successor of the godfathers Toto Riina and Bernardo > Provenzano, who are both serving life sentences, but less is known about > him. > At the height of his power he had a reputation as a flashy, ruthless > womaniser who ruled over at least 900 men with an iron fist. > View gallery > > The 11 suspects arrested "were the men who were closest to Denaro right > now," said police official Renato Cortese, adding that it was "too early to > say" whether the sting would help investigators close in on the fugitive. > Prime Minister Matteo Renzi thanked the investigators in a message on his > Facebook page, saying onwards all, to finally capture the super-fugitive > boss," insisting "Italy is united against organised crime" despite a recent > slew of corruption scandals in the country. > "The state wins, the Mafia loses," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said > on Twitter. > Gondola, who despite his age rose every morning at 4 am to tend to his > flock, is believed to have once been a right-hand man to Riina. In the > 1970s he belonged to a gang used by the Mafia to carry out kidnappings, > according to Italian media reports. > The Sicilian Mafia, known as "Cosa Nostra" or "Our Thing", was the > country's most powerful organised crime syndicate in the 1980s and 1990s, > but has seen its power diminish following years of investigations and mass > arrests. > It also faces fierce underworld competition from the increasingly powerful > Naples-based Camorra and Calabria's 'Ndrangheta. > -- Brenda Fernández [email protected] GPG: CE5BEE6C81FCA4D4 <http://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xCE5BEE6C81FCA4D4>
